I wouldn’t exactly say I’m crestfallen these days, but I do often question what I’m doing with myself. The question has plagued me since I moved out of the 18-24 box. You ask other people for advice, but how often do ask yourself what you are doing. Maybe its time to have a little 1-on-1 time with the man in the mirror. Read on to see some of the questions I've been asking myself as of late.

Just a few hours ago I submitted my taxes – they only took about 15 minutes mostly because they were simple and Im broke. But the tax man cometh and taketh anyway. I came to the sad realization that net-net my post tax take home is about as much as my pre-tax salary from my first internship (5 years ago). With this newly gained nugget of wisdom and my growing list of things-that-I need-to-get-done-for-work-by-COB-that-I don’t-care-about, I had a very strong desire to pack up and move to the Cayman Islands. But I can’t afford that. So how to dig deep and find the motivation to be productive when I’ve lost interest. Read on for some ways to trick yourself into being motivated when you’ve lost your enthusiasm

I am surrounded by technology. I work in technology and i’ve had some sort of cell phone since hanson was born. I have a PC, Blackberry, and an iPad for work and a Mac, windows phone (looks away in shame) , a kindle, and an ipod for play. Usually all of the these items are within reach, so when I want to do something simple, like google a word to check for spelling it takes a sec to pick which device I want to use. I usually go with what’s within arms reach. some things work better than others depending on what I want to do so here are a few things I do to use my gadgets more effectively.

Last week I attended a master class at one of the MBA programs I’m looking at. The Professor was interesting he spent some time talking about all of the standard hot topic issues and we went through a case study. I left the class with one take away – I want to read more finance books. I made note of a few titles that I came across but also decided to set out on my kindle to see what I could find. 10 minutes worth of searching and I came up with the next three books I’ll be reading. Check out my list so far and help me with any suggestions.

Last week I was helping out another group with some interviews for an experienced hire and of all the interviews I held, I only recommended 1. The standards are a bit different when interviewing lateral hires. We expect you to actually be knowledgeable in the area you are working and be able to speak effectively about the work you have done. But for some reason, these and some other basic skills seem to have been lost on the people I saw this week.

Read on to see the 5 reasons I passed on most people I interviewed.

mod note: this was originally posted on 7/11/12
Everyone’s on vacation. You’ve pretty much done minimal work the last week because you were celebrating your independence. Let's face it, you've probably checked out since memorial day weekend and now begins the long stretch towards labor day weekend and the end of the lazy summer. With most colleagues on vacation, it's pretty difficult to get much done during the summer - but you’re stuck behind a desk anyway. So how do you keep busy and stay underneath the radar, while doing as little as possible?

Asking for someone to write you a recommendation letter can be an anxiety ridden experience. What if they say no? Or what if they give you a template recommendation letter that they give every Tom, Dick, and Harry that strolls into their office. There’s a lot to consider when picking someone to write a recommendation letter for you and also a few things you can do to ensure you get the best letter possible. Read on for some tips

I've been in the wrong job before. We all have. You come in everyday do just enough to keep your head above water and not get noticed for being incompetent, while putting in as little effort as possible.I realized it was time to hit the old dusty trail, when the highlight of my day was when mail guy came by - Finally some stimulating conversation! I probably would've left earlier if I had taken a closer look at what was really bothering me. Read on for some of the early signs that I missed that would've helped me realized sooner that i was working at the wrong job

International students applying to schools in the US face a lot of challenges getting into MBA programs. Visa issues aside there are also language barrier issues. Could the same be said for US students going to international schools for their MBA?

And the answer, if you are looking into a school like INSEAD is “yes…well, maybe”.